Norvestor VI, L.P. (“Norvestor”) and minority shareholders have sold ABAX Holding AS (“ABAX”),an international market leader within connected vehicle telematics and tracking systems, to Investcorp, a leading global private equity firm with considerable experience from the telematics industry, for an enterprise value of NOK 1.8 billion.

Since Norvestor invested in ABAX in September 2012, the Company has achieved significant growth, both organically and through add-on acquisitions.

Under Norvestor’s ownership ABAX has solidified its Nordic market leading position and become a substantial Northern European player within electronic trip logs and the wider vehicle telematics market. ABAX has secured attractive footholds in the UK, Netherlands and Poland and recently also China for further geographical growth.

During Norvestor’s ownership, ABAX has completed seven add-on  acquisitions and established operations in five new countries, resulting in a revenue increase from NOK 157 million in 2012 to NOK 471 million in 2016, representing an annual revenue growth of more than 30%. The customer base has grown from c. 6,000 to c. 26,000, and the subscription portfolio has grown from c.40,000 to almost 200,000. The ABAX organization has also grown significantly, from 85 to 350 employees. ”

Norvestor has been an important partner for ABAX. They have helped us professionalize the company and focus our strategy. During their ownership, they have among others supported us to conduct add-on acquisitions, establish operations outside the Nordics, and enabled us to position the company for further growth within the world’s vehicle telematics market.”, says Petter Quinsgaard , CEO of ABAX.“

Norvestor has been a fantastic team player. When they invested in 2012 they showed that they believed in our potential and our vision. They have supported us all the way, and they have helped us develop our organization and our high-performance culture. We now have more than 350 employees of which almost 100 of them are shareholders who have all had a fantastic journey.”,says Bjørn Erik Helgeland, COO of ABAX.“

To succeed in becoming a European leader with global potential within a highly competitive area you need to be outstanding both in product development and in sales. Petter, Bjørn Erik and their team have managed to excel in both these areas through building a culture which can serve as a benchmark for organizations aspiring to be at the top in a digitized future.

It is a pleasure to handover to a new main owner who has the knowledge and the capabilities to support the further growth of ABAX. We are confident that ABAX has what it takes to continue its success and help businesses become more effective by digitizing and automate work processes”, says Henning, old Partner in Norvestor.

The money will go to the development and marketing of the marketplace.

Wood Stock Exchange wants to make it easier for buyers and sellers of wood to find each other. Today there is no structured way to trade the timber without the seller often turn to established contacts and competitive bidding is not always sales among buyers.

This would change the Timber Exchange and has therefore built a digital marketplace to handle the timber business in a simple and transparent way. On www.virkesborsen.se to forest owners completely free easily and comparing quotes from various forestry companies to ensure the profitability of forestry.

– It is good for the seller, who can get better prices by reaching more potential customers. But it is also good for the buyer, who gets a better overview of what is available and can streamline their work significantly, says Erik Ydrén, Investment Manager at Almi Invest. The forest industry is currently being digitized, so the company is very timely.

This is the first digital marketplace for wood in Sweden. The vision is a more transparent and accessible timber market where all Swedish forest owners can make wise and business decisions in the sale of timber. A digital marketplace also provides timber buyers the opportunity to streamline their work and gain access to the timber.

– Wood Stock Exchange plays an important role in the interface between forest owners who want to do good business and timber buyers faced increasingly tough competition for wood, says Adam Aljaraidah, CEO and co-founder of Wood Stock Exchange. With Almi Invest and Olof Hallrup as investors, we both capital and expertise is of great importance for our development. Now we have all the prerequisites to make the Swedish timber market more transparent and accessible to all players. A more efficient timber market to enable new products from the forest that can replace fossil-based raw materials.

In connection with the investment goes Sven Wird, many years of technical director at Holmen and Board of Sveaskog, in as Chairman of the Timber Exchange